Stay For A While
by needysaurusrex
Summary: While celebrating with Lori and Andrea, a strange man comes to Carol's defense when a creep won't leave her alone. Companion/Prequel to A Melody, A Memory or Just One Picture aka how Carol and Merle met. MAROL.


**So, this is part of _A Memory, A Melody or Just One Picture. _In a later chapter, Carol thinks about how she and Merle met and I wanted to write out how they met. I updated that today too, and I updated _Spotlight on the Lake, Roxanne _(which is now finished)and _Of Marauders and Honor. _****Not to mention, a brand new fic has been posted. It's called _A New Day _but it's Carol/Merle. Marol is my new obsession, but I'll never abandon Caryl.**

**I'm on tumblr too (as I have mentioned before), peletierscarol (which will auto-direct you to my custom url). Please feel free to follow me and talk to me there. One can never have too many friends.**

**Happy reading!**

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"Do we want to open them at the same time?" Carol asked, looking at Lori and Andrea, holding a thick envelope in her hands. Lori and Andrea both held the same type of envelopes in their hands, nodding at Carol. The three women had recently taken their final exams at George State University and each one of them had recently gotten their results back. Carol had gotten hers in the mail first, then Lori, then Andrea. They'd all waited until all three of them got their letters to open them. They went to a nearby bar with the letters, ready to either drink their sorrows away or celebrate.

"At the same time." Andrea and Lori agreed. Carol took a deep breath and looked down at the envelope in her hands.

Nervously, Carol brought her fingers up to the seal of the envelope, running her fingers over it. "On the count of three, okay?"

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Carol tore open the envelope and opened it up, pulling the letter in it out and squinting in the dark bar to read the letter.

_Dear Ms. Ziegler, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have passed your final exam and will be receiving your Bachelors degree in Education._

Carol looked up at her friends with a grin on her face, hoping they'd have matching grins. Lori and Andrea looked up at her with grins on their faces and Carol bit down on her bottom lip. "I passed." Giggles escaped from Carol's lips and she couldn't fight the grin from taking over her face.

"I passed too." Lori said.

Carol turned to look at Andrea, bouncing in her seat. "Me too." Carol had to fight the squeal coming from her mouth and she reached over to throw her one arm around Andrea's shoulders and the other around Lori.

"We are one step closer to becoming teachers." Carol said as she slowly pulled away from them and giggled again. She felt like a child again, even if she was twenty years old. She'd wanted to be a teacher ever since she was a little kid and seeing her dream come one step closer to coming true made her grin like a child with a lollipop and she wasn't ashamed of that. "I am going to get us some drinks in celebration." She'd gotten in with Lori and Andrea on a fake ID, so she was hoping that she wouldn't have to show it again. Though she was sure the old man at the bar wouldn't even be able to tell it was fake, she didn't want to get caught.

Carol reached into her purse and pulled a twenty out of her wallet, holding the bill in her hand as she walked over to the bar. She leaned over the bar and frowned as she looked around around to see if she could catch a glimpse of the bartender. As she looked around for him, she took notice of her surroundings. Across the bar was a man, probably in his forties with short hair and a long, curly mustache, that instantly gave Carol the creeps. Just two seats over was a young man, probably around Carol's age, maybe a few years older than her or her age holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. He had a short buzz cut and the faint shading of stubble around his jawline and chin.

The man didn't have to be wearing a uniform for Carol to know that he was a military man. Her own father had been in the Marine's, she could tell a solider from a mile away. Before he could see her staring, Carol turned her head towards the right, trying to see if she could see the bartender. She let out a frustrated grunt and glanced back at her friends for a second before turning back around.

"Hey Otis." She heard a voice to the left of her say. She turned her head slightly and noticed that the man next to her had called out to someone. Carol turned her head towards him and noticed he had gotten the attention of the old man. The man next to her nodded towards her presence and the old man started to walk over to her. He looked over at her and Carol was taken back by the bright blue eyes that stared back at her. She gave him a friendly smile and wave of her hand, to which he held up the glass in his hand. She turned back around to look at the old man in front of her before she cleared her throat.

"Hi. Can I get a Southern Comfort, two Long Island Iced Teas and three shots of Jack?" She asked, pushing the twenty over to her. The old man stared at her for a moment and she was worried for a second he'd card her again. The old man – Otis – took the money from her and walked over to the cash register. He handed her a Southern Comfort and she sat up on the stool while she waited for the other drinks. Carol took the beer bottle and brought it up to her mouth, taking a small drink from it. She waited for her friends drinks, tapping her fingers along the neck of the bottle.

"Now what is a pretty young thing like you doing here alone?" Carol heard a voice say to her and she turned her head to look at the man who was once across the bar from her.

"I'm not alone, I'm with some friends. I'm just waiting for our drinks." She said, keeping her thumb over the top of her beer bottle, just in case. Carol gave a friendly smile to the old man as he slid the three shots in front of her and set them on a stray so she'd be able to take them back to the table she was sitting at with Andrea and Lori. "Thank you." She said to Otis and pushed her hair from her face as she kept her eyes on the shots.

"Well, I've got some friends too." The man said to her. Carol cringed and swallowed thickly before turning her head again to look at him.

"Look, we just want to have our celebration in peace and quiet. The offer is very nice but no thank you." She said before turning away from him and taking a long drink from her bottle. From the corner of her eye she noticed the man who had gotten the bartenders attention for her staring at her and the man who was talking to her. She had thought he had decided to give up when he spoke again.

"My names Axel. What's yours?" She felt his hand come up on her bare arm and Carol's head snapped over to push his hand away from her.

Carol scowled at him and moved to stand off the stool as both Long Island Iced Teas were placed in front of her. "My name is leave me the hell alone and don't ever touch me again." She set her beer bottle down on the tray and as if he was testing her, the mans hand reached up and he grabbed her arm, yanking her towards her.

"Hey now, I'm just trying to be friendly. You don't have to be such a bitch." Carol opened her mouth to respond to the man but the man went flying to the ground. She jumped back and turned her head to look at what had caused him to fall to the ground and she looked up at the rough looking man with bright blue eyes.

"I believe the lady told you to leave her alone." He said. She stared up at him with wide eyes before glancing down at the man on the floor. He brought his hand up to his face and she noticed that there was blood coming from his nose.

"Damn, Merle, you ain't gotta hit so damn hard." The man on the ground said as he pulled himself up. By the time that Carol turned around to thank the man who had just knocked a guy down for bugging her, he had disappeared. She frowned and pursed her lips and reached to grab the tray in her hands. Hopefully she'd see him again before he left and she could actually thank him for what he had just done. She walked back to the table where Lori and Andrea were, setting the tray down.

"What the hell happened over there?" Andrea asked her.

Carol opened her mouth but no sound came out until she began to laugh. "I have no idea. Some guy was harassing me and then this other guy just... knocked him down so he'd leave me alone." She looked over at the bar again but didn't see him again. Maybe he'd left. She hoped he didn't, she wanted to buy him another drink to thank him.

"That's.. Really sexy." Lori said. Carol left her head up to look up at him and began to laugh softly.

"Shut up and take your shot." Carol said and pushed one of them over to her before taking her own shot glass. The three girls took the shots of whiskey that Carol had bought for them, continuing to make small talk with each other about their plans until Lori announced she wanted to leave to get home to see her boyfriend Rick before he'd go to bed leaving just her and Andrea together. Her eyes continued to go back to the bar to see if she could see if the gruff man had returned yet. She turned her head back to Andrea, trying to focus on her but she noticed that Andrea's eyes were on someone else as well.

Carol followed her line of sight and saw that Andrea had her eyes on a beautiful dark skinned woman with long black dreadlocks. She turned to look at Andrea and licked her lips. "Go talk to her." Carol said, grinning when Andrea looked over when wide eyes. She waved her hand off to Andrea and shrugged. "We all know, Andrea. Just go." Carol said with a smile and dragged her tongue over her bottom lip as Andrea mumbled a thank you and climbed off the stool as she walked over to the woman. Carol watched as Andrea walked up to the woman, picked up her bag and climbed off the chair, bringing the tray back up to the bar.

Otis took the tray and nodded at her, Carol taking money from her bag and ordering another beer. When she noticed that the gruff man who had knocked the creep down had just gone across the bar, she leaned over to Otis. "Hey, uh.. That guy across the bar the one who knocked that creep down earlier.. Uh what is he drinking?" Carol asked, his name failing her though she knew the creep had said it. Otis looked back at the guy across the bar and looked back at her.

"Straight whiskey." He said to her. Carol licked her lips and nodded.

"Get him another one. On me." She said and pushed another twenty towards him. She smiled softly and bit down on her bottom lip as he handed her another Southern Comfort and moved to pour the man across from her another whiskey. She turned her attention towards her beer, taking another drink from it. As she pulled drink down and set the beer bottle on the bar that the man she'd just bought a drink for was looking at her with the fresh drink in his hand.

Carol wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. Was she supposed to go over to talk to him? Was he supposed to talk to her? What the hell was she supposed to do now? Carol bit down on her bottom lip and glanced up at him, frowning when he had disappeared. Maybe she had made the wrong decision, maybe she shouldn't have done that.

"Yer Mama ain't ever tell you not ta buy strangers drinks?" She heard the same gruff voice next to her. Carol turned her head and looked up to see the blue eyed man.

"My Mama also told me that when a guy punches a guy in a bar for you, it's common courtesy to buy them a drink as a thank you." She said with a smile on her face. He grunted in what Carol thought might be laughter and climbed up on the stool next to her. She bit down on her bottom lip before speaking. "I'm Carol... Ziegler" She said.

He glanced over at her and nodded. "Merle." She smiled softly and bit down on her bottom lip. "Merle Dixon.." He added. "Thanks for the drink."

A soft giggle left Carol's lips and she shrugged. "Thanks for punching that creep for me." Merle looked over at her and he shrugged his shoulders. Carol glanced over at where Andrea had gone to and noticed she and the girl flirting. She had no where else to go, she supposed she could just leave. Carol picked up her beer and leaned her head back to finish the bottle, setting it down and climbing off the stool. As she started to walk away, se heard a voice behind her.

"What're ya celebratin'?" Carol turned around when she heard Merle's voice and she looked at him for a moment. "Ya said to the creep that ya're celebratin' with yer friends. What are you celebratin'?" Carol smiled when she realized that he had been listening to her conversation with the guy before he defended her. Carol moved to sit back on the stool before she started talking.

"I got my Bachelor's degree in Education. Passed my final exam.." She said and turned her body towards her so she was facing him.

"Ya gonna be a teacher?" He asked, glancing over at her. Merle was surprised that she was looking at him, staring directly at him. No one did that, not girls, not men. Not his own family.

Carol didn't seem to mind him staring directly at her and she didn't seem to mind staring at him as well. "That's my plan. I have to take another course and then take my GACE test, which will get me my certificate and then yes, I'll be a teacher." It was noble, he supposed. He didn't have teachers that had changed his life or anything in school, but who would teach kids if she didn't? "What branch of the military are you in?" Carol asked out of nowhere. Merle's head snapped up and he looked at her in shock that she knew he was in the military.

"The hell ya know I'm in the military?" He asked.

"My Daddy was in the military. I can spot a solider from a mile away." Merle grunted at her comment and snorted. "And I can see your dog tags." He reached up and grasped the dog tags he was wearing, glancing over at her. "So which branch?"

"Yer so smart, ya tell me." Merle said with an amused tone to his voice. Carol pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him briefly, chewing on her bottom lip.

She considered her answer for a moment before she spoke. "Marine's." Merle nodded towards Otis to get the girl another drink and she grinned as another bottle of Southern Comfort was placed in front of her.

"So was I right?" She asked as she lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a long drink from it.

"Bought ya a beer, didn't I?" Carol grinned as she set the beer down on the counter.

"Suppose so." Carol said, thinking of how to keep the man talking. She had nothing better to do, why not keep him talking? "Are you deployed?"

He tipped his head back as he finished his whiskey, holding the glass in his hand. "Afghanistan. Back home on a weeks leave. Got one more year of service." Merle said before setting the empty glass on the counter. "Ya friends ditch ya?"

Carol smiled and glanced over at where Andrea was, her eyes widening briefly when she noticed Andrea and the girl were leaving together hand in hand. "Um, yeah." Carol had to fight her giggles as Andrea glanced back at her and gave her a thumbs up. She heard Merle let out a weak chuckle and she turned around to face him to see that he had followed her line of sight. "Both of them have now."

Merle considered his words, thinking there was no way that she was about to go for what he was about to suggest. She had more class than to mess around with a fuck up like Merle Dixon, but he might as well try. Merle reached back into his pocket and tossed a few twenties on the counter before looking at Carol. "Wanna get out of here?"

Carol's heart stopped for a second and her breath hitched in her throat. He was asking her to leave with him, go somewhere else. Her instincts told her to say no, that it was a bad idea but for some reason, she trusted him. Carol picked up her beer and finished it off before she turned to Merle and spoke. "Sure." She said, smirking slightly when she noticed he was definitely surprised. Merle nodded and climbed off the stool, waiting for her to step down from hers before he grabbed her wrist and started to lead her out of the bar. He was far too drunk to drive his bike back and he knew she'd been drinking, he counted at least three beers and a shot.

While attempting to hail a cab, Merle let Carol lean against him. He could smell her shampoo and her soap, the faint smell of strawberry and honey filling his nose. Damn, she smelled as good as she looked. He wondered if she'd taste as good as she looked. Carol turned her attention to Merle and he knew he'd been caught staring at her. She must have had similar thoughts to his because she grasped his leather jacket and pulled his mouth down to hers, slamming her mouth against his. Merle was taken back by her sudden kiss, but he didn't question it. When he pulled away from her to look to see if there a taxi near by or one parked for them when he realized there wasn't and there was no way for them get to his place or her place unless one of them drove, he considered it briefly but his thoughts were interrupted by Carol pulling him down a dark alleyway.

Merle quickly followed her down the alleyway, a drunken smirk plastered on his face. When Carol turned around, Merle pushed her up against the brick wall of the bar and grasped the back of her dress covered thighs, lifting her up effortlessly. She gasped at being shoved into the brick wall, Merle looking down at her. "I hurt ya?" He asked.

Carol grinned and shook her head. "No.. Felt kinda good, actually." She admitted, holding into his jacket for leverage. Merle smirked and he leaned down to press is lips into hers again, tightening her legs around his waist in a vice grip while they kissed. She had never done anything like this – she had never bought a guy a drink before, never picked up a guy in a bar, never had sex with a random guy in a bar, never had sex in public and definitely never had sex in public with a random guy she picked up in a bar. But here she was about to do just that. "I've never done this before." Carol said as Merle's mouth connected with her neck. She frowned when he pulled away and he stared down at her.

"Yer a virgin?" He asked. Carol's eyes widened and she started laughing, shaking her head.

"No, no. Not a virgin, I meant.. random sex with a random guy from a bar." Merle sighed in relief that he wasn't about to take this girls virginity, hell he wasn't sure if he _would_ do something like that. That was supposed to be special, not taken by a stranger.

"Give a man a heart attack with that shit." Merle mumbled as one of Carol's hands moved between them and grasped the bulge in his pants. His eye shut as her small handed started to massage his bulge and Merle held his hand above her shoulder, letting out a grunt. "Don't have ta do this, ya know."

Carol let out a weak laugh at Merle as she continued to massage the bulge that was quickly getting bigger in her hand. "Yes, we do. I want to." She mumbled and with one hand, unbuttoned his jeans and pulled the zipper down. Merle let out a groan as her hand reached into his boxers and wrapped around his length and he pressed his lips into hers again. Merle's hand came between them to find the crevice between her legs. His fingers ran over the obvious lace and he grinned. "Ya like lace, Merle?" She asked as his fingers ran over the lace on her underwear. She groaned softly as his fingers tugged her underwear to the side.

"Definitely a fan of lace." He grinned.

"You should see everything else." Carol teased, a smirk formed on her face.

Merle glanced at her face and licked his lips. Fuckin' hell, this woman was gonna kill him. He wanted to see every damn inch of her, standing in nothing but the heels she was wearing and whatever lace shit she had going on was under the black dress. He wondered if she'd want to see him again, let him see her bare like that. Sweet Jesus. Merle crashed his lips against hers again and pushed his jeans down just past his mid thighs. "Shit," He mumbled, reaching down to find his wallet where he knew he had a condom in there.

"Don't worry about. I'm a twenty year old girl in college, I'm on the pill." Carol said. Merle glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Used a fake ID to get in." She batted her eyelashes at Merle and he smirked, his mouth finding her ear.

"You should go to my man Martinez. Makes the best fake IDs, I could trick an FBI agent with mine." Carol smirked and let out a soft giggle. Merle pushed her hand away from his cock, holding her underwear open to push the head of his cock into her. She let out a long moan and Merle covered her mouth with a hand to prevent them from getting caught. He pushed into his cock into her fully, resting his head against her shoulder as he kept his cock buried inside of her. He couldn't explain it, but she felt better around him than any other fuck he'd ever had.

"Please..." Carol mumbled against his hand, biting down on his hand. Merle grunted and pulled his hand away from her mouth, pressing his hand above her shoulder. "Merle, please..." She pleaded, jerking her hips towards his. Merle grunted and looked down at her and slammed his mouth against hers as he started to thrust into her. Carol curled her fingers into his jacket, holding onto his collar as he thrusted into her repeatedly. She moaned against his mouth, her hips thrusting up into his.

Merle pressed his mouth against her ear, his breath hot against her ear as he spoke. "Wanna stay buried in your fuckin' cunt forever, damn girl." Carol shuddered at his words, tugging on the jacket. She hadn't heard anyone say something like that, besides in porn.

"Don't... Stop..." She pleaded, her hips jerking into his. Carol had never been more aroused than in this moment with Merle buried inside of her. Her legs tightened around his waist, digging her heels into the small of his back. "Please.." Merle's slammed into her roughly, the downward angle causing him to thrust into her at just a perfect angle. She buried her head into his shoulder and brought her teeth down on his neck. He grunted against her skin. "Keep.. Keep.." Merle's thrusts slowed down a devilish smirk formed on his face.

"What ya want, Carol?" He asked, thrusting into her with purpose. She groaned as his thrusts slowed, her hips jerking into his. "Come on, girl." Carol licked her lips and adjusted against him, whimpering when his thrusts completely stopped.

Carol growled under her throat and released the patch of Merle's flesh she had in her mouth before she spoke. "Talk.." She mumbled, feeling a blush form on her face. No one had ever expected her to talk during sex before, the other men she'd had sex with didn't care about getting her off.

"Oh, ya like when I talk to ya, huh?" Carol nodded, her hips jerking into his. "Say it.." Merle gave a slow, determined thrust into her.

"Yes!" Carol cried out, tugging on his jacket pleadingly. "Yes, Merle, I like it when you talk to me. No one's ever done it before.." She mumbled shyly.

Merle grinned to himself and he thrusted up into her again, his head falling into her neck again. Christ. "I ain't ever had a pussy this good, this perfect." Carol's eyes shut at his words and she whimpered softly, moaning softly when he began to thrust into her again. She yelped out his name and arched her back as his mouth starting to trail down the exposed flesh from her dress. "Fuck.." He grunted as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Merle knew that in his drunken state he wasn't going to be able to last much longer, hell he was surprised he was able to last this long. Normally when he was drunk, sex wouldn't last more than a few minutes. He reached between them and sought out her clit, using his rough thumb to massage it. Carols breath hitched in her throat as she felt her orgasm building up, jerking her hips into his to meet his thrusts.

Carol gasped and panted, pleading with Merle until her orgasm finally hit. The tightening of her muscles forced his own orgasm and his thrusts that had once been quick and deliberate were now weak and sporadic, growling as he spilled into her. Merle had stayed buried inside of her after their orgasms had run its course, her legs losing their strength around his waist. Merle slowly pulled out of her and stuffed his cock back into his jeans, zipping up his pants. He helped her stand straight, looking down at her as she panted. Her hands rested on his chest, biting down on her bottom lip. She couldn't believe that she had done that. What if he thought she was nothing but another bar slut? She swallowed and looked away from him, Merle's hand coming up and grasping her chin to turn her face towards his. He pressed his mouth against hers again and kissed her, sloppily and drunkenly.

"Ya okay?" Merle asked when he pulled away. A grin formed on her face and she nodded, biting down on her bottom lip.

"I'm fantastic." She whispered and a giggle escaped her lips. A grin formed on Merle's lips and after giving her a moment to regain himself, he turned and walked down the alleyway, the girl following behind him after picking her purse off the ground. He hailed her a cab and snorted when the yellow car pulled up to them. Merle wondered what would have happened if a cab had pulled up that quickly for them earlier. Carol looked up at him as he opened the door for her. "Am I ever gonna see you again?" She asked, knowing that Merle wasn't going to get in the cab with her.

He shrugged, surprised that she'd ever want to see him again. "Maybe someday." Merle said before shutting the cab door. Carol opened her mouth to speak to Merle once again before the door shut in her face. She turned her head to the side and told the cab driver where to take her before she leaned back into the cab, thinking of the man she met in the bar long after she'd woken up the next day.


End file.
